Resources

Community Reading

Lafayette invites students, faculty, staff, alumni, and members of the Easton community to read a work of literature in preparation for the upcoming academic year.

Throughout the year, the entire community is then invited to an interdisciplinary series of campus-wide and city-based events that will explore the themes of the book more fully and engage the community in an intellectual dialogue with the text.

The choice for the upcoming school year is Laila Lalami’s acclaimed 2005 debut novel, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits.

From the publisher:

“Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits evokes the grit and enduring grace that is modern Morocco. As four Moroccans illegally cross the Strait of Gibraltar in an inflatable boat headed for Spain, author Laila Lalami asks,

Photo of Laila Lalami’s book cover

What has driven them to risk their lives? And will the rewards prove to be worth the danger? There’s Murad, a gentle, unemployed man who’s been reduced to hustling tourists around Tangier; Halima, who’s fleeing her drunken husband and the slums of Casablanca; Aziz, who must leave behind his devoted wife in hope of securing work in Spain; and Faten, a student and religious fanatic whose faith is at odds with an influential man determined to destroy her future. Sensitively written with beauty and boldness, this is a gripping book about what propels people to risk their lives in search of a better future.”

“A dream of a debut, by turns troubling and glorious, angry and wise.” —Junot Diaz

About Lafayette

A national leader in graduation rates, undergraduate research, and graduate and mid-career salaries, Lafayette offers the benefits of larger schools with the student-centered approach of a small, undergraduate college. Learn more.